European Nintendo distributors are the biggest SNES Classic scalpers

Think eBay sellers scalping the SNES Classic Edition are bad? You will think otherwise after hearing about large scale scalping conducted by official Nintendo distributors in Europe.

While Nintendo of Europe (NOE) distributes products in the wealthier European countries (UK, Germany, France, etc), other parts of Europe and the Nordic countries are served by other distributors not under Nintendo’s control. In parts of Central Europe (Poland, Czech Republic, Slovakia), distribution is handled by CQE, while in the Nordic countries (Finland, Norway, Sweden) distribution is handled by Bergsala.

There’s certainly nothing wrong with distributors officially representing Nintendo in other countries, but when distributors have the power to artificially raise the price of a hot product to absurd levels, there’s a big problem.

Here’s a price comparison for the SNES Classic in different parts of the world. For a fair comparison, we’ve removed VAT (valued added tax) from the final prices in USD. We’ve taken the lowest retail prices for countries without MSRP (Manufacturer’s Suggested Retail Price).

Country – Price in local currency – Price without VAT in local currency – Price without VAT in USD

Japan: 8618 yen / 7980 yen / USD71.03

United Kingdom: GBP69.99 / GBP58.33 / USD76.85

United States: USD79.99 / USD79.99 / USD79.99

Australia: AUD119.95 / AUD109.05 / USD83.86

France: EUR99 / EUR83.33 / USD95.20

Germany: EUR99 / EUR84.03 / USD96

Singapore: SGD145 / SGD135.51 / USD99.14

Poland: EUR127.49 / EUR103.65 / USD118.41

Slovakia: EUR129 / EUR107.50 / USD122.81

Czech Republic: EUR133.39 / EUR111.16 / USD126.99

Finland: EUR149.95 / EUR120.93 / USD138.15

Sweden: SEK1500 / SEK1200 / USD142.47

Norway: NOK1500 / NOK1200 / USD143.80

Looking at the prices, customers living in Bergsala/CQE countries could be paying up to two times more than what a customer pays in the United States before tax, and up to three times more after tax.

It’s clear cut prices are being jacked up on the distribution level. With the high demand and low supply of SNES Classics going around, customers living in these countries couldn’t really consider importing from other parts of Europe or the US. At the end of the day, the distributors win with massive amounts of profit as they are left with no choice.

Do you think Nintendo should step in to do something about the SNES Classic price gouging? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section below.

Thanks for pointing out Artur. I will be honest, it didn’t cross my mind because I’ve always thought these countries behind the Iron Curtain are still designated as East Europe. I’ve corrected the article and will take note of this for future articles.

Poland, the Czech Republic and Slovakia most certainly are Eastern Europe. You’re the one who needs to look at a map, and also realize it’s more a cultural thing than geographical. Like Finland is not really in Scandinavia proper. But it’s most certainly is a “Scandinavian” country.

Yes there’s some truth to that. There’s no MSRP in those countries, so retailers are free to set the price. But as we mentioned on the article, we’ve taken the lowest retail prices for countries without any MSRP. Not every retailer will sell it for a really high margin. In the case of Finland, one of the lowest prices listed is EUR149.95, which is GameStop’s pricing. They probably decided on this factoring in the margin they usually make for such consoles and potential bulk purchase discounts to remain competitive.

Other stores in Finland have priced the SNES Classic between EUR150 to EUR190. Looking at other countries with no official Nintendo presence, you’ll notice the same trend. We can tell from this pattern it means the wholesale price offered to retailers in CQX/Bergsala regions is much higher. Of course we wouldn’t know the actual cost but that’s the impression it’s giving.